Aurora, Colo. resident Missy Franklin won her prelim heat in the 100m Backstroke with ease on Sunday, but her real test will begin on Monday, and not just because a medal will be at stake. In her prelim, Franklin was not matched up against Australia's Emily Seebohm, who set a new Olympic record in the 100m Backstroke during her prelim and is considered the heavy favorite entering Monday's medal heat.
Franklin will likely have to pull off something close to the race of her life, but she'll have to overcome another obstacle as well: she's scheduled to compete in the 200m Freestyle semifinals just 20 minutes before the 100m Backstroke final. The race will kick off at 12:51 p.m. MT, but will be broadcast starting at 5 p.m. MT as part of NBC's primetime coverage.
There are two other major medal events on Tuesday, one of which is also in the pool. That would be the Men's 200m Freestyle, which will see American Ryan Lochte trying to redeem himself after Sunday night's disappointing finish in the 4X100 Freestyle Relay. Lochte has a good shot at gold, but will have to knock off favorite Sun Yang of China. That race should kick off around 12:43 p.m. MT, but will also be broadcast as part of NBC's primetime coverage.
The other major medal event is the men's gymnastics team final, where the U.S. will be looking to grab gold for the first time since the boycotted 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. The U.S. rose to the top in qualifying thanks to struggles by China and Japan, but things figure to get much tougher in the medal round. That event will kick off at 9:30 a.m. MT, but will be shown on NBC's primetime coverage.
For day-to-day broadcasting schedules, visit NBC's Olympics web site.
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